Camp Chocobo
by Kyrie1
Summary: *CHAPTER 4 NOW UP!* Zell loses his stash of hot dogs. Irvine tricks Lynna. Pavan soaks Seifer.
1. Getting to Camp Chocobo

"We're here, we're here, we're here!" exclaimed Selphie as she yanked the key out of the car as quickly as she could and practically jumped out. While Selphie beamed and went on about how much fun this would be, Rinoa turned to glance back toward the road as she climbed out.  
  
Pouting in mock annoyance that Squall wasn't here yet, the brunette turned to face a sign reading "Camp Chicobo" in bright letters. Actually, she giggled, the sign said "Camp Chicodo", but she knew that some kid had just spelled it wrong.  
  
Rinoa glanced over at Quistis, who had already donned her sunglasses. It was obvious the SeeD instructor had never been to a camp before; she was way over prepared for this. As the blonde looked over the children's campsite, her face fell. Quistis was anything but accustomed to camping, and as her hidden eyes searched the campsite she sighed and turned to Selphie.  
  
"Remind me again why we're doing this?" questioned Quistis. Selphie, who was just as enthusiastic as Quistis was dismayed, chirped "Because I signed us up, remember?" Turning to Quistis, the hyperactive girl's smile grew wider as she hugged her friend briefly. "Don't worry, Quisty, you can thank me later!" Selphie called out as she ran for the registration cabin.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Please, please, please?"  
  
"No. Now, listen here, boy. I said no and I mean no."  
  
"Pretty please with a hot dog on top?"  
  
At this, the cowboy had to laugh aloud. Even Squall rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Zell, I hate to break it to you, but hot dogs don't go good with ice cream," retorted Seifer, smirking quickly at Zell as he polished his gunblade. Zell smiled his characteristic smile. "Who said anything about ice cream? I just wanna listen to the radio!" he exclaimed, reaching for the radio control from the backseat of the convertible like a 10-year-old.  
  
Irvine grabbed hold of Zell's wrist before the street fighter could reach the radio. "No fair," complained Zell, recoiling his hand. "Why can't I listen to the radio?" he asked childishly. "Because," started Irvine, spying a group of girls riding by in a similar convertible with blaring pop music. "Jimmy Hendrix sucks. Now pop music…that's much more my type," the cowboy told Zell as he tuned the radio to the same station as the girls in the adjacent car were listening to. Zell rolled his eyes as Irvine flashed them a charming smile.  
  
Zell pouted, falling back into his seat. "No fair," me muttered. "He said that about classical music last time some girls our age passed by!" he exclaimed as he shot a death stare at Irvine, who was now window-to-window with the other convertible, no doubt flirting with its occupants.  
  
Squall, who had never been a fan of pop music himself, had to object. He could only take so much of N*Sync. As he turned the radio off, Squall glared at the cowboy who had turned to face him in confusion. "Irvine, remember what happened last time you got distracted while driving up here?" asked Squall cynically. Irvine raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You still don't believe me, do you?" questioned Irvine. "I swear, I knew Melanie! We hadn't talked in forever, so I just thought-" but Irvine was cut off by a gesture and comment from Squall. "You wrecked the car. You're lucky we weren't hurt. Now we're late, and we're in debt."  
  
Anything else Squall had to say was drowned out by Jimmy Hendrix. Irvine could only laugh as he looked back at Zell playing the air guitar. Squall fell back into his seat with his head facing the sky. Rubbing his temples, he muttered, "Hyne, help me." 


	2. Welcome to Camp Chocobo!

Rinoa smiled brightly, clapped her hands together once, and ran for the boy's car as it pulled into a parking space and the boys began to get out. After pecking Squall lightly on the cheek, she smiled up at him. "What took you so long? I thought you'd never get here!" she said, frowning playfully in mock anger.  
  
"Well, it's a funny story, actually…" Zell answered for his less-than- talkative friend as the street fighter cast a glance at Irvine, who gave a goofy smile before speaking. "Ah, no biggie, really. We just got a little lost, that's all," came the cowboy's excuse.  
  
Seifer, smirking as usual, turned to walk for the registration office without a glance at Rinoa. "Mr. Western here totaled the car 'cuz he was busy flirting with a car-full of hotties," the arrogant blonde explained as he gestured to Irvine, who was now smiling naughtily as he tried to look innocent.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
When Irvine entered the small and rather shabby-looking registration cabin the owner of the camp, Mrs. Shefeild, shot Irvine a desperate look. Irvine chuckled as he heard Selphie telling some story about the quad. He knew what it was like to sit through her desultory stories!  
  
"Did Sefie tell ya? We're checking in as camp counselors for the summer," interrupted Irvine. At the sound of Irvine's voice, Selphie squealed in delight as she whirled around and noticed Irvine standing in the doorway for the first time. "Irvy!" she exclaimed happily as she ran up to give him a hug.  
  
Squall entered the room next. Unlatching herself from Irvine, Selphie waved at Squall and yelled out a perky greeting as she left the office- no doubt off to explore the camp. Rolling his eyes, Irvine followed to "make sure she didn't get into any trouble."  
  
A couple minutes later Zell, who had attracted a small crowd with his impressive arsenal of martial arts moves right outside the cabin, spied Squall leaving the Registration Cabin. As he jogged over to the dark-haired pessimist, he faked a punch aimed at Squall's nose. "So…" continued Zell, still punching at Squall and stopping just short every time. "What're the cabin assignments, man?"  
  
Squall held out a key with 'Cabin R85' inscribed onto it. Zell took the key from Squall's hand with a punch and ran off to find his cabin with a "Thanks, man!" and a wave.  
  
Squall was thankful; Quistis and Rinoa were easy enough to find, right outside the registration office. After giving them their keys, Squall sighed. If he knew Selphie, Irvine, and Seifer, they wouldn't be easy to find. And despite a small urge in the back of his head not to give Seifer his key, Squall trekked off in search of them.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Selphie and Irvine were easy enough to find. He found the two standing next to an old, run-down fence marking a chocobo-riding rink. "Are you serious? You can't ride chocobos?" giggled Selphie, making Irvine visibly uncomfortable.  
  
"Well, uh…"  
  
"Teehee! I thought every cowboy could ride chocobos!"  
  
"Y'see…"  
  
"Well, now's your chance to learn, Irvy!"  
  
At this, Selphie jumped over the fence and ran out to the nearest chocobo as Squall was approaching. Handing Irvine his cabin key and giving him quick directions, Squall spotted Selphie chasing down- or at least attempting to chase down- a chocobo.  
  
"…What is she doing?" asked Squall, his face agitated. "She's chasing down a chocobo, Squall," the cowboy told him matter-of-factly. The two watched in silence for a couple seconds as Selphie came close to grabbing the reigns of one of the ostrich-like creatures.  
  
Seeing that it would undoubtedly take his friend a long time to actually catch one of the fast critters, Squall handed Irvine Selphie's cabin key. "Just give her this key when she gives up. Her cabin's over there," explained Squall as he walked off in search of Seifer.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Man, he thought to himself, fingering the cabin key Squall had given him. What stupid rules. No weapons? How's that for pacifism? Seifer smirked as he crossed his arms. It's not like I'm gonna try to kill anyone…Geez, he thought. What a crappy place.  
  
Seifer heard an ever-so-slight rustle from the bushes to his right, and his hand traveled instinctively to where his gunblade would've been- if he had been allowed to have it on campgrounds. His hand dropped as he saw a kid step out of the bushes.  
  
"Hi!" offered the red-haired little boy as he stuck out his hand to shake. Seifer estimated him to be about 9 years old. His grinning face was splattered with freckles, and the emerald-green eyes adorning the boy's face seemed to match the hue of Seifer's own eyes. The boy had chubby cheeks, and his nondescript clothes were very dirty. "I'm-"  
  
"I don't really care who you are," stated Seifer simply as he continued his aimless search for his cabin. Pavan jogged to keep up with Seifer. "I'm Pavan," the boy informed Seifer. "Good. Now go away," mumbled Seifer as he reached his cabin.  
  
Pavan watched Seifer enter his cabin. "Um, okay. See you tomorrow then?" The screen door shut in his face. 


	3. Introductions

A/N: I've been having some trouble loading the correct chapters with the matching stories. My computer's kinda screwed up or something. If you can see this under the story Camp Chocobo, PLEASE tell me so in your reviews! Thanks!  
  
What a beautiful day, thought Quistis. It was early morning, and although the thought of living in a cabin disgusted her, she had to admit it was very peaceful. She could hear birds chirping and sunshine streamed through her window as she brushed her hair.  
  
She closed her eyes and took a big breath full of untainted air. She smiled. She smelled sweet flowers of all kinds, minty pine trees, smoke…smoke? Her eyes snapping open, the blonde stood on the tips of her toes to see through a particularly high window facing the mess hall.  
  
After hurriedly jamming a boot onto her foot, Quistis ran toward the mess hall. Since the kitchen was next to her own cabin, she could only hope that the smoke was from something burning, and not from a full-fledged fire.  
  
The former Balamb Garden instructor thrust open the doors of the kitchen to see Selphie scrubbing at something inside of the oven, the scent of smoke still thick in the air. Noticing her friend gaping in the doorway, Selphie stood up and greeted Quistis with a mock salute.  
  
"Heehee! Hi, Quisty!" Selphie giggled at the speechless blonde. Gesturing behind her, Selphie continued. "Um, I bet you're wondering what happened, huh? Well y'see, the funniest thing happened! I was trying to make pancakes, but I kinda messed up. Everything's okay now though!" the brunette chirped happily.  
  
Seeing that Quistis was still not up to talking, Selphie wiped a bit of something unknown off her face and turned to resume her cleaning. "The batter was really messy," she explained. Quistis could only look disgusted as she watched Selphie. Brown batter? For pancakes?  
  
Sighing in exasperation, Quistis realized that the time for talk had passed- though she had much to ask- and helped Selphie clean up in a comfortable silence.  
  
And it came as no surprise to her that Selphie had decided that today the camp would have cereal for breakfast.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Awesome!" exclaimed Zell as he jumped into the air enthusiastically. He looked again at his assignment card and smiled broadly. He tapped Squall on the shoulder. "You can just call me Wilderness Hike Instructor Zell!" the blond boy bragged as he pointed proudly to himself and smiled again.  
  
Seifer was disgusted, on the other hand. He was to be in charge of the super soaker water gun station. How boring… he mused. Couldn't they have let me be something more…I don't know, prestigious?  
  
Rinoa stood on her tiptoes and looked over Squall's shoulder to peek at his card. "Heeey!" she exclaimed. "You're at the pool? Super! I'm in the arts & crafts cabin, right near the pool!"  
  
Irvine, on the other hand, was not as elated at his 'station'. He looked again at his assignment card. Why? Out of all the assignments…why do I have to be an assistant at the chocobo riding station? He thought dismally. Selphie brought him out of his worries with an unexpected hug from behind. And then right back into his worries as she yelled, "I'm the camp cook, I'm the camp cook!"  
  
Quistis was completely neutral to her assignment- a group leader. She was in charge of a small group of kids and bringing them around to each station. Scanning over the throngs of kids at the lunch tables, Quistis began to pick out which kids she hoped she did and didn't get in her group.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Zell's face fell as he eyes the mountain he would be in charge of helping kids climb. "Too hard for you?" teased Mrs. Shefeild as she spotted Zell's expression of dismay. The tattooed teenager turned to her and answered "Well…no, but…couldn't the hike be…I dunno…maybe a little closer to the cafeteria?" he asked hopefully.  
  
Mrs. Shefeild chuckled. "Don't worry, Zell. You'll still be back in time for lunch," she told him as the Wilderness Hike Instructor of Camp Chocobo sighed in relief. "You just might be a little late. The hot dogs go fast, but you'll be back before the Sloppy Joes sell out." Zell's eyes widened in horror at the prospect of hot dog deprivation. "Um, but…uh," protested Zell as Mrs. Shefeild walked away.  
  
"Ah, man!" he whined as he sat down on the ground cross-legged with his head in his hands.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Well, buddy, it could've been worse, Seifer told himself as his watched a few kids running around and dousing each other with water guns. Lifting his arm from the armrest of his beach chair, Seifer grabbed his lemonade (complete with a mini-umbrella!) and sipped it through his bendy straw. It could've been worse.  
  
Then the boredom began to set in. Seifer actually found himself watching the little squirts squirting each other. Squirts squirting each other...heh. Then he sighed. Hyne, you know you're bored when that drivel gets entertaining…  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Why am I doing this? Squall thought to himself. Why did I have to give in when Selphie told me she signed me up for this? Why couldn't I just say no? he wondered.  
  
At first he had tried to treat this like any other assignment- get it done, get it over with. It had always worked with SeeD assignments. But no, the little bite bugs had to go and have a sand castle contest! And the screaming was starting to get to him.  
  
Making it look like he had to go get something from the beach shack, Squall left his position, figuring the kids couldn't kill anyone in 10 minutes. Inserting the key into the shack's lock, Squall glanced back at the kids to make sure they were okay. Taking the key out, Squall opened the door and took a step in…  
  
Into Rinoa. Yup, Rinoa was in there and Squall, assuming she was in the arts & crafts cabin, bumped right into her. "Ow!' she exclaimed as her hand flew to her lip. Squall frowned. "Rinoa? What are you doing in here?"  
  
Rinoa plopped herself down into a chair of the small room and pulled her finger away from her mouth to see a small flow of blood coming from it. "Nursing a bloody lip, what does it look like?" she asked in mock-misery.  
  
Squall raised an eyebrow, obviously missing the sarcasm. "I meant before I came in here. You're supposed to be in the arts & crafts cabin," he reminded her. Rinoa pouted, but with her hand applying pressure on her lip to staunch the blood flow, it ended up looking ridiculous. "Well, you're supposed to be watching the kids on the beach and you aren't," she responded.  
  
"I was getting something," Squall stated simply and defensively. "What?" Rinoa questioned, not believing a word of it. "Um…" said Squall as he looked around. Rinoa jumped to her feet. "I knew it! You weren't getting something! You were getting away," she stated matter-of-factly. The girl then smiled in defiance, and her hand flew to her lip again as the blood flow started up again.  
  
"Ow…" Rinoa muttered, looking at Squall accusingly. Squall sighed in annoyance. "I wouldn't have accidentally hit you if you were back in the arts & crafts cabin where you were supposed to be," Squall reprimanded Rinoa. Rinoa attempted to pout again. "But I'm not, and you did hit me," she complained in mock-anger.  
  
Squall frowned again. "Well, what do you want me to do about it?" he asked sarcastically. Rinoa's eyes flew up to the left corner of the cabin mischievously. "Kiss it to make it feel better," she said in a way that reminded Squall of a six-year old.  
  
Before Squall could ask 'What?!' as he had intended to, a small boy opened the door, almost in tears. "Johnny wrecked my sand castle, and-" the boy was silent as he watched Rinoa leave the shack for the arts & crafts cabin. Forgetting all about his sand castle, the boy turned his curious eyes to Squall. "Who was that?" the boy asked.  
  
"A fallen angel," Squall answered in annoyance as he walked back to the beach with the boy to reprimand Johnny. The boy cocked his head in confusion. "A fallen angel?" he asked, sparing a glance at Rinoa as she closed the cabin door behind her. "Yeah," muttered Squall. "Heaven wouldn't take her," he joked as he smiled a bit.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Anybody here? 'Lo?" Irvine asked as he approached the chocobo stables. He opened the creaky stable doors and stared into darkness. A hand from within the stables grabbed the cowboy's arm and hurriedly pulled him into a headlock. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" demanded a feminine voice from directly behind him. "I-Irvine Kinneas, ma'am! I'm here to h- help with the chocobo ranch!" he answered, wondering what exactly was going on.  
  
The girl's tone of voice changed completely, from business-like and serious to perky and cheerful. "Oh!" she said, as her arm left Irvine's neck and flicked the lights on. Irvine let out a breath he was embarrassed to find he had held. Irvine turned around to face the aggressive chocobo trainer and his jaw fell.  
  
Long red tresses fell around an elegantly shaped face adorned with exotic green eyes and full red lips. Though she appeared frail, Irvine knew- in fact, his arm still hurt a bit- that she was strong. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, Irvine thought.  
  
As she unlatched a door and began to harness up a chocobo, the redheaded girl casually offered an apology. "Sorry 'bout that. It's just, my little brother comes up here to bother the chocobos sometimes. I was trying to catch him in the act," she explained. "Instead, I caught you," she giggled.  
  
Irvine smiled charmingly. "Feel free to catch me anytime, Miss…?" he trailed on, indicating he didn't yet know the lady's name. Shaking her head, the chocobo trainer replied "Lynna. Just Lynna."  
  
" Lynna," finished Irvine politely. Lynna smiled and gestured over to a stall housing a particularly large chocobo. "Go harness up Giovanni over there. Good thing they gave me a cowboy, someone who can actually ride, to help out around here," Lynna added.  
  
Irvine then remembered why he didn't want to be here again. Starting towards the chocobo, Irvine muttered 'Yeah. Good thing."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Ooops…" whispered Selphie to herself as a hot dog exploded in the oven. She glanced over at Hortense, a senior camp cook, to make sure she wasn't watching. Hurriedly cleaning up the largest hot dog pieces and dropping them into the trashcan, Selphie yelled "Hey, Hortense! You make the hot dogs, okay? I'll stir the soup for a while!"  
  
Hortense emerged from the other room of the kitchen. Selphie flinched. Although she had spent all day with the stocky tangle-haired old lady, she still wasn't used to the giant wart on her face that was near impossible to ignore. "Eh?" the old lady asked.  
  
"You," started Selphie as she pointed to Hortense. "Make the hot dogs," she said, gesturing to the opened hot dog package. "And I'll," Selphie said, pointing to herself. "Stir the soup," Selphie finished as she made a stirring motion.  
  
Hortense nodded in a way that made Selphie want to barf and proceeded to remove the hot dogs from the packaging. Shuddering a bit, Selphie exited to go stir the soup.  
  
It wasn't that Hortense was mean or anything- she certainly wasn't- but Selphie felt a bit uncomfortable around the senior camp cook. Normally, she wouldn't be as shallow as to judge someone on appearance…but she was totally creeped out!  
  
Sniffing the air a few times, Selphie stopped stirring. She glanced down at the soup which had quickly begun to smell awful since Selphie had entered the room. Turning off the stove, Selphie raised the ladle to her lips and took a sip.  
  
Selphie nearly choked as she spit it back up. Looking around frantically, Selphie added a profuse amount of pepper and kept stirring, hoping the pepper would make it taste different.  
  
Well, it certainly did.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Can't you color another picture?" asked Quistis. "NO!!!!" bawled the child Quistis was futilely attempting to calm down. "I WANNA COLOR DA CHOCOBO!!!!!!" said the kid as he crossed his arms stubbornly. "Look!" said Quistis in mock excitement. "A pretty moomba for you to color!" said the blonde girl.  
  
The child sniffed once, and hit the coloring book. "NO!!! IT'S NOT A CHOCOBO!"  
  
"Well, I'm sorry Aizena already colored the chocobo, but there's nothing you can do about it now…" comforted Quistis.  
  
The little boy sniffed. "In'a color a chocobo…" he complained.  
  
Quistis had never been good with little kids. They were loud, annoying, and took up entirely too much time. And 3 out of 5 of her group members were ones on her "Bad Kids" list.  
  
"You can't color the chocobo," said Quistis. 'I'm sorry, but-"  
  
At this the little kid got right up in her face "IN'A COLOR CHOCOBO!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed in an annoyingly high-pitched voice.  
  
Quistis lost it. Narrowing her eyes, the former instructor's face turned a light shade of red with anger. The little kid shut up, and looked about as if he were about to cry again.  
  
"Color…the…moomba…okay?" Quistis breathed, trying very hard to calm herself. The little kid, terrified at that point, nodded his head and took out a blue crayon. As he messily colored the moomba blue, he glanced back at Quistis every few seconds in pure terror.  
  
Quistis put her head in her hands as she muttered to herself "Why me? Why me?" 


	4. Could it Get Any Worse?

"Zell! Zeeeell!" called one of the kids from the back of the trail. "I'm boooored. Howzabout we all sing a camp song while we hike?" she suggested. Zell brightened. "Sure!" he said. "That'd be great!"  
  
The group immediately started belting out the camp 'theme' song, a tune that Zell soon discovered he didn't care for in the least. So he stopped, turned around, and waved his arms to get the kids' attention.  
  
"I have a better song to sing!" Zell told the kids, who look around questioningly at each other. "What song is it? Sing it for us, Zell!" crowed the girl from the back of the line. "Okay!" yelled Zell as he resumed walking up the trail. "Here goes!"  
  
"I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner! That is what I'd truly like to be! 'Cuz if I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner, everyone would be- BEAR!"  
  
"Everyone would be a bear, Zell?"  
  
"No, LOOK! A BEAR!"  
  
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"  
  
The kids scattered and ran to hiding spots in the nearby bushes. Zell, not wanting to lose track of his first group, didn't bother to tell them that the bushes wouldn't help hide them at all considering the bear's keen sense of smell.  
  
Instead, he decided it had been long enough since he had used any martial arts last, and that the kids would probably like to see a bear get beaten up.  
  
Which didn't take very long. Soon the bear was down, and Zell was yelling at it. "Take that! BOOYA! That's what happens when you mess with my hikers, baby!" He proudly turned to the bushes where the kids still cowered in fear, giving them a thumbs-up and a big smile.  
  
And then he got hit in the head by a bear paw. Regaining his senses, Zell spotted 3 more angry bears preparing to simultaneously jump him. One, who had creeped up behind him, pawed at his back, opening Zell's backpack.  
  
And the bears forgot all about Zell as they feasted on the hot dogs that had fallen out of Zell's backpack, Zell watching on in dismay. The kids ran down the path back to camp for lunch, a couple staying behind to drag Zell away from the sight of bears eating the hot dogs Zell had saved.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Ha! Yeah, you better run!" called Seifer after the kids at his station, as he pumped the spare water gun madly. All he could say is that beach chairs and lemonade only get you so far.  
  
It had only taken him about half an hour before he decided to grab a gun and douse the little brats. It was nearing lunchtime, and Seifer was still completely dry. 'Man, I'm good!' he told himself.  
  
"A bit confident, eh? I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you; you'll get hit eventually, giving the kids full bragging rights," reminded the blonde sitting in Seifer's beach chair.  
  
Oh yeah, that's the other reason he had left his restful seat; Quistis' group was at his station. She needed someplace to sit, and he wanted to show off. So it worked out perfectly.  
  
"I won't get hit," stated Seifer simply. He turned to face Quistis. "So where's that last little brat of yours? I've already soaked those four," he said, motioning to four shivering, soaked children hiding in the bushes.  
  
"He said he had to go to the bathroom right before we came to this station. He should be back soon," she told him, sipping Seifer's lemonade through the bendy straw.  
  
Seifer heard a gasp behind him, and he turned around to see Pavan running up to hug him. "Don't tell me this is your fifth little brat," Seifer asked as the redheaded child latched himself onto Seifer with a giant bear hug.  
  
Quistis giggled as she took another sip of lemonade. "Yup. Seifer, it seems like you've made a little friend," she teased. His face turning a bit red, Seifer pried the pest off of himself and shoved a water gun into his hands.  
  
"Now, Pavan, since I'm in a good mood, I'll give you to the count of ten to run. But I'm warning you, if you don't get far enough…" Seifer warned, letting his voice trail off as he motioned to Pavan's shivering groupmates in the bushes.  
  
Pavan beamed. "No need to worry! I'm an expert water gun fighter! My brother even taught he how to-" started Pavan. But Seifer cut him off. "Yeah, yeah," said Seifer with a roll of his eyes. "Now, I'm going to start to count. One, two, three, four, five, sixseveneightnineten!"  
  
Taking his hands off of his face to place on the water gun handle, Seifer was taken by complete surprise as Pavan let loose a huge stream of water from the boy's own gun, hitting Seifer square in the face.  
  
Quistis, at the sight of it, began to laugh hysterically. Seifer just wiped his face dry in disbelief and stared at Pavan. Pavan grinned widely. "Did I do good? Huh, did I, Seifer? Did I, did I?" the freckled boy asked enthusiastically.  
  
Seifer narrowed his eyes in anger. Not only had he been doused by some little pest, he had been made a fool of- in front of Quistis, no less! Seifer grabbed his gun and yelled, "Get back here, boy!" as he took off after the sprinting redhead, Quistis still not able to control her laughter.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
'Well', thought Squall, 'though nothing interesting has happened today, at least nothing bad has happened either. Except for the management making me wear this pointless bucket hat,' he reasoned, flipping the oversized, ridiculous-looking hat out of his eyes for the umpteenth time.  
  
He rolled his head back in boredom, and stared at the clouds in the sky. 'Hey, that one looks like Angelo…'  
  
Just then, he was snapped back to attention by a shout from behind him. He could tell by the voice it wasn't anyone he was in charge of (he had memorized the screams of the kids he was in charge of), but he looked anyways, out of curiosity.  
  
Squall frowned as some redheaded kid holding a water gun broke through the brush across a field from the beach, screaming his guts out (the boy, not the beach).'What? The water gun station is on the other side of camp!' And he heard another voice, an all-too-familiar voice he thought at first he had imagined.  
  
But he hadn't. Seifer broke through the brush soon after the boy, yelling angrily. What Squall found most amusing was that occasionally the boy would stop in his tracks and shoot Seifer with the water gun, then keep running. He watched as they crossed the field and started toward the Mess Hall.  
  
Squall, with surprising calmness, turned back to watch the kids he was watching play in the sand, wondering if he had really seen what he had just seen.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"That's not a butterfly!" accused a little girl with long black hair trailing on the ground. "Yes it is," said Rinoa. "See? There's its wings, the antennae-" she began to explain. "It looks like a lost emu," pouted the younger brunette.  
  
Rinoa frowned in confusion. "A lost emu?" she queried, turning her head sideways in hope to see the emu the girl was so determined she saw in Rinoa's picture of a butterfly.  
  
"Now this is a butterfly!" stated the small blue-eyed girl who saw the emu. As she held up the flawless butterfly sketch, Rinoa's jaw dropped. Grabbing hold of the picture, Rinoa marveled at the child's drawing. It looked so real! "How did you…where did you find…Wow!" said Rinoa, clearly at a loss for words.  
  
And it wasn't long before she found out most of the kids in the arts & crafts cabin at the time could draw better than her. And most of them thought her butterfly looked like a lost emu, too.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Well, Irvine certainly knew how to saddle up a chocobo. But that was about as far as his training went concerning the large chickens. 'So far, so good,' he told himself. He hoped he wouldn't have to actually ride the thing, just lead the kids around in a circle with a lead rope or something.  
  
But his luck had been wasted on the chocobo trainer, or so to him it seemed. Because as soon as Lynna saw Irvine entering the ring with Giovanni, she brightened and waved. "Hey, cowboy! We don't have any groups coming around here today. Wanna race?" she asked. Irvine watched her mount her chocobo as he desperately tried to come up with an excuse.  
  
Taking Irvine's silence as a yes, Lynna pointed down a trail to the left of the ring. "I'll take that route over there," she told him. Then she pointed down another trail to the right. "You go down there. They both loop around and come back down the same path. Perfectly symmetrical, too," she added.  
  
She frowned as Irvine awkwardly mounted Giovanni. But when she saw him sitting atop the chocobo perfectly fine- or at least appearing to be- she smiled. "You ready?"  
  
In fact, Irvine was ready. He had an idea that not only would excuse him from riding any chocobos, but would also win him some respect. "Yeah. You go first- I'll give yah a head start. Yah'll need it," she told her, winking.  
  
"Oh, you think you're hot stuff! We'll see how well you do! Hya!" she cried, as she took off onto her path. Irvine watched her go down the path until she was out of sight.  
  
Once he was sure he could no longer see the chocobo trainer, Irvine dismounted Giovanni. Now all he had to do, he reasoned, was wait for Lynna to come back, and tell her he had finished a long time ago. 'I'm so brilliant,' he told himself.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"La dee da dee da…" sang Selphie boredly as she stirred some batter to something- she had forgotten what it was exactly. She wished Hortense would let her sing at least, but she had gotten way annoyed at her when she found the perky SeeD standing on top of a table belting out 'Eyes On Me' into a fork.  
  
And so now she was walked around in circles stirring this batter Hortense had thrusted into her hands. Walking by the window and glancing out, Selphie spotted Pavan and Seifer running towards the mess hall. Sparing a glance at the clock, Selphie muttered "It's pretty early for breakfast…"  
  
But looking out the window to see the fast approaching pair of water- gunners, Selphie shrugged and smiled, chirping out an "Oh well!" as she walked toward the front door.  
  
"Hiiiiiii, guys!" Selphie yelled, waving at Pavan and Seifer. Once inside, Pavan threw down his water gun and stared, wide-eyed and panting for breath.  
  
Seifer's eyes seemed to widen, too, as he noticed he had run across camp, almost as far away from his station as possible. "Aw, shit!" he said violently. Pointing at Pavan, he spoke again. "It's all your fault if I get in trouble, kid!" he said through clenched teeth as he started back towards his station.  
  
Pavan watched as Seifer left, then he looked up at Selphie. "Why was he so mean to me?" Pavan nearly whispered, staring at Selphie with adorable, doe- like eyes. Selphie's face fell sympathetically as she hugged the small sniffling boy. "Awww! Poor you! Seifer's just a big meanie, don't you worry! He's like that to everyone," she told him.  
  
"But I wanted to be his friend," protested Pavan. Selphie sighed. "It'd probably be safer if you stayed away from him. Especially since you soaked him like that! Teehee!" giggled Selphie as she began to crack up. 


End file.
